Monday, 24 February 2014

Originally released in 1974, Phantom Of The Paradise is written and directed by Brian De Palma (Scarface, Mission: Impossible) and is a interesting rock fusion of The Phantom Of The Opera, a 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux and The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

When unknown composer Winslow Leach (William Finley - Eaten Alive, The Black Dahlia) performs his Cantata about Faust for renowned record producer Swan (Paul Williams - Ishtar, The Muppet Movie), little does he realize that Swan wants the piece for himself to use for opening of his new rock club, The Paradise.

Winslow is secretly besotted with Phoenix (Jessica Harper - Suspiria, Minority Report), whom he met at the auditions for the chorus-line to perform his piece and wants recognition for his work.

Saturday, 22 February 2014

4 stars for this fascinating insight into the life of a reality TV star.

One Chance is directed by David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada, Marley and Me) and written by Justin Zackham (The Bucket List, The Big Wedding).

This charming and funny British film tells the story of Paul Potts (James Corden - The History Boys, Gavin and Stacey), the winner of the first series of Britain's Got Talent in 2007.

Paul grew up in Port Talbot , the son of a steel worker and spent his formative years being relentlessly chased by bullies, both for his size and for his love of opera. This is fairly quickly dealt with, glossed over even and we fast forward to 2004.

While his mother (Julie Walters - Mama Mia!, Harry Potter series) is very supportive of his intended career, his father (Colm Meaney - Con Air, Layer Cake) is not so keen, feeling that he should find himself a proper job at the local steelworks.

Wednesday, 19 February 2014

Cosplay,
short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which
participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific
character. The MCM Expo Group are organizers of the London MCM Expo. It
was founded by Paul Miley and Brian Cooney in 2001. It takes place over 3
days and has attendees of over 60,000 people, who are encouraged to
take part in Cosplay. One of the most popular parts of the MCM Expo, to
show devotion to their favorite characters, as well as take photos, meet
new people, and take part in an international competition. This is the
first feature documentary about the UK cos-play scene. The movie
followed a small selection of talented cos-players as they took part in
May 2011 MCM Expo and showcased their costumes in the Masquerade. (Ed
Hartwell)Filmed
at the MCM Expo 2011 and concentrates on the Cosplay of the Masquerade
where players have made there own costumes and present them on stage at
the Masquerade where they can go on to win the UK part of a much bigger
competition.

Tuesday, 18 February 2014

This series is set around the premise of the old tales of the Arabian Nights.The series is charming and very well animated with beautiful
backdrops and great fight sequences but this is another one of those
anime series that I think the BBFC misunderstand.

This has a classification of 12 but through the whole series there
are visual references to prostitution, slavery, mindless cruelty,
domestic violence, nudity and breast fetish (male or female).Do not get me wrong, this is a great series and I highly recommend it, just be aware of the cultural differences in classification.
Aladdin
is a young boy, (around 13) who has lived his life locked away in
seclusion, his only company is a giant blue person called Ugo, who tells
Aladdin that he can grant him one wish.
Ugo grants him his wish and he is freed from his imprisonment and he takes his naivety out into the world of sun and cruelty.Now carrying a metal flute with a strange 8 pointed star upon it,
hung around his neck, he finds a cart full of lush fruit and he starts
to feed his hunger.
This ruins all of Alibaba’s hard work, as he works for the local Lord Jamil to supply the house hold with goods for his parties.
Scolded for his troubles Aladdin and Alibaba are thrown together much
to the annoyance of Alibaba who has dreams of becoming a Dungeon
Capturer, as this would bestow him with great wealth.

Monday, 17 February 2014

One Piece Collection 5 is set during the Alabasta Saga, episodes 104 to 130 and is in fact the conclusion of this particular story arc.

It follows directly from the events of Collection 4 and sees our heroes The Straw Hat Pirates - Monkey D. Luffy, Nami, Usopp, Zoro, Sanji and Chopper, having finally reached their goal to bring Princess Vivi safely to her home, the Kingdom of Alabasta.

After three years without rain, the Kingdom is in uproar and on the brink of civil war. Vivi is desperate to prevent any bloodshed and will try anything to stop the war, however there are outside forces at work who would love to stop her from meeting with the rebel leader Koza and see the Kingdom destroyed.

The Straw Hat Pirates soon realize that the stakes are even higher than they thought. The leader of Baroque Works, Mr O. is in fact Crocodile, one of the seven warlords of the sea, whose plan all along has been to destroy Alabasta and turn it into his own Utopia.

This fun anime takes off from episode #61 going through to #72 (See Fairy Tail Part 5).
The gang are hard on the the heels of the 6 who form the Oracion
Seis, sworn to turn those of the light to the dark with the use of
Nirvana, the giant walking city.
Nirvana
is headed for the distant wizard Guild of the Cait Shelter and those
who had the power to hide Nirvana for hundreds of years.
That is why the Oracion Seis are set wiping them out first.

But the Guild Alliance are hot on their heels as they fight through
the ruined city. We are in the middle of the confrontation between Cobra
and our Fairy Tail Hero Natsu as Happy keeps him aloft, as the motion
of the city makes him sick.
Cobra dodges the Dragon Wizards moves which frustrates Natsu and
Happy.
As they argue with each other he empties his mind as it is filled
with rage, he lands a punch. Cobra can read minds and knows every move
that he is about to face before it has been thrown. Natsu has trouble
keeping his mind blank so the battle goes badly for him. Until he comes
up with his own unique solution to the mind-reader.

5 Stars as Kirito searches for his Love.It has been 2 years and 2 months since Kazuto adorned his Nerve Gear
and told it to load and join the VRMMORPG of Sword Art Online.

Please watch or read the reviews for Parts 1 and 2 before reading this, as it may spoil the story so far.

This continues the great saga of Kazuto (Kirito) and Asuna as SAO
comes to the end of its arc and ALO (Alfheim Online) takes over, with
new abilities for the online players.

With great story and lovely animation this story keeps you gripped and slavering for more.
After his revival Kazuto gave the authorities all the information he
could about Heathcliff and they gave him the information he yearned for,
the location of his love, Asuna.

Whilst
visiting Asuna he is interrupted by Asuna’s father and his associate
Nobuyuki Sugou. Her father is always happy to see Kazuto, and at first
Sugou is impressed to meet the famous player that defeated SAO.
Kazuto is shocked when Sugou reveals his intentions to be
indoctrinated into Asuna’s family, effectively marrying Asuna. The
ceremony is in 0ne week at the hospital and when alone, Sugou tells
Kazuto that he is not to visit Asuna again except to see the ceremony,
as it is his right to have Asuna since it is his company (RETCO Progress
Inc) that has been keeping Asuna alive since the bankruptcy of Argus.

Sunday, 16 February 2014

Machete Kills is the sequel to Machete and is written and directed by Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Once Upon A Time In Mexico).

Machete Kills tells the story of Machete (Danny Trejo - From Dusk Till Dawn, Heat), an ex federal agent who is recruited by the President Of The United States (Charlie Sheen - Two And A Half Men, Hot Shots!) to try and take down a crazy revolutionary, Mad Mendez (Demian Bichir - A Better Life, Che: Part Two).

He discovers that he has a device wired to his heart which will trigger a missile and start a war if his heart stops. However, Mendez has put a massive bounty on his own head to ensure that everyone will be out to get him.

Can he keep him alive, avoid the many people out to get them and svae the world?

Tuesday, 11 February 2014

John Dies At The End is based on the cult novel of the same name written by David Wong and directed by Don Coscarelli (The Beastmaster, Bubba Ho-tep).

This is a comedy/ fantasy/ horror, not a combination you would expect to see, yet it manages to be all three of these things very well.

John Dies At The End is the story of Dave (Chase Williamson - Sparks) and his friend John (Rob Mayes - Ice Castles, Enough Said), two slackers who suddenly find themselves responsible for the fate of humanity.

After taking an experimental new drug known as Soy Sauce at a party, they discover that this is no ordinary drug. This is a dimension bending drug, causing all sorts of strange effects, including travel in time and dimensions, psychic abilities, hallucinations and the sudden ability to see demons hiding within the human population.

Saturday, 8 February 2014

Not Another Happy Ending is directed by John McKay (Crush, We'll Take Manhattan) and written by David Solomans (Five Children and It).

This is the story of Jane Lockhart (Karen Gillan - Doctor Who, Guardians Of The Galaxy), a struggling first time author who finally lands a publishing contract with a Glaswegian publishing company run by Tom Duval (Stanley Weber - The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life, Thérèse) and his capable assistant Roddy (Iain De Caestecker - Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D).

His company near to bankruptcy, Tom sees Jane as his potential saviour and immediately signs her to a two book contract and begins to help her to edit her first novel, The Endless Anguish Of My Father. But things begin to fall apart when he changes the title to Happy Ending without her consent and she refuses any further input from him, instead intending to fulfill her contract and sign elsewhere.

Tinto Brass (Frivolous Lola) shows his hand at the erotica that he is famous for.The film starts with our heroine Carla, (Yuliya mayarchuck,
Go Go Tales) strolling across a London park in the heat of a sunny
summer day, taking in all the sights of couples, business men and a
flasher, who for his trouble gets flashed back, so setting the scene for
the film as we see Tinto’s trade mark close up of genitals and
rear-ends.Carla is in London looking for an apartment for her and her Venetian boyfriend Matteo, (Jarno Berardi his first full film.) who is still at college.
She wanders into a smart estate agents with a single woman behind the desk, Moira( Francesca Nunzi, Frivolous Lola).
Moira tells Carla the prices of the apartments in the local area, and
this comes as a shock to her, but Moira has designs on this young lady
and says that she has a place that might suit her needs. She tells Carla
to meet her tomorrow and they can go look at it.Next
day they arrive at the warehouse style apartment and Carla is dressed
in short shorts and a little top and this confirms to Moira that Carla
is the girl for her.

3 Star Italian Titillation.Directed by the King of erotica Tinto Brass, (Cheeky (Trasgredire)), even though his most famous film is the one he disassociated himself from (Caligula).

The film centres around 1950′s Italy, in a small town where everybody knows all about all.Lola, (Anna Ammirati, Dark Love) and Masetto, (Mario Parodi, Cheeky) plan on
getting married and Masetto has the views that Lola should stay a
virgin until their wedding night, but Lola is yearning to find out if
her intended is a good lover, if she is going to spend the rest of her
life with him.
She rides around the town on her bicycle, wearing light clothing in
the strong Italian sun, they waft about revealing her derrière to all,
(see front cover).

Tuesday, 4 February 2014

This new adaptation of the well known play by William Shakespeare is directed by Carlo Carlei (The Last Legion, Fluke) and adapted for the screen by Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park, Downton Abbey), whose influence is clearly visible in the lavish settings and costumes.

In case there is anyone out there not familiar with the premise of Romeo and Juliet, it tells the story of two star crossed lovers, living in the fair city of Verona (beautifully depicted in this film).

Romeo (Douglas Booth - LOL, Worried About The Boy) is a member of the Montague family and Juliet (Hailee Steinfeld - Ender's Game, True Grit) is the only daughter of Lord Capulet (Damian Lewis - Homeland, Dreamcatcher), two feuding houses, whose members openly fight to the death (or try to) in the streets of Verona.

Monday, 3 February 2014

Kenneth Branagh (Henry V) who adapted this for the screen, directed and stars in this beautifully upgraded to 1080 romp in Messina.
This film has an amazing cast, taken from the best of the class 0f 1993.

Leonato, (Richard Briers, Peter Pan 2003) is out picnicking at his villa when he is told that prince Don Pedro, (Denzel Washington, Man On Fire) is returning after quelling an uprising by his half brother Don John, (Keanu Reeves, The Matrix).

By Pedro's side is his good friend Benedick, (Kenneth Branagh, Valkyrie), a sworn bachelor and a wit with his tongue, that he uses to fence with the bachelorette Beatrice, (Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks) Leonato's niece.

Even
though the stars are well known, this film does not light any flames,
as the martial arts and action are far too far apart and Steven Seagal's
mumblings are far too close together. Keep your remote control close at
hand as you will need to rewind whilst saying, "what did he say?"

Thomas Douglas, (Steven Seagal,
Under Siege) has been the top dog of a crime family for years and it is
wearing thin on him. He wants out but first there is work to be done.

Someone
needs taking care of, but the snag is that they are in a secure wing of
a prison. So Thomas sends in his trusted enforcer, Roman Hurst (Bren Foster, Maximum Conviction), who impersonates a prison officer and gains access to the recreation area and as he selects his mark, Ice Man, (Ving Rhames,
Pulp Fiction), the contact on the other side of the glass tells him he
has the wrong man and it's the man behind him, so he swiftly dispatches
him and leaves.